"A good God wouldn't have a Hell"

And it's so interesting that all of you seem to be doing everything you can to CHANGE THE TOPIC, and deflect the discussion into something else.

It's like none of you can deal with the argument in the Opening Post, so you have to start throwing out all the other arguments you have in your arsenal out of desperation.

 

there is also a double standard by many claiming a God doing something bad is good, I think that is the point

 

Well, that is a related issue, but it is a different issue from the Opening Post.

Wow, we've gone 2 pages and still almost no discussion actually about what's in the Opening Post !

I'll assume you all just have no arguments then.

 

if God can't forgive good people and feels he must punish them for no other reason than not believing in him, that to me would be a sign of not being a good God

I mean that sound more like Trump than a God

 

That is a false assumption. God doesn't punish people because they do not believe in him.

 

so nonbelievers like me get into heaven then? or do we go to hell?

what would this 'good' God do to me?

 

I don't think you really understand why "believing in" God would save you from hell.

more about that was explained in this thread:
a lot of the misunderstandings about Christianity come from a lack of wisdom about human nature

 

why would a 'good' god send me to hell?

 

Well that is true.

 

Only because you deserve to go there, and it is not possible to have you in Heaven with it remaining Heaven.

(I am not saying you for certain will go to Hell, just that there is a very high probability you are headed that way, much higher than you think)

 

I don't believe in this God, so do I go to hell?

if the bible believers stopped at you would be denied entrance to Heaven, fine, couldn't care less, but why send nonbelievers to hell

why call a God "good" that does that

 

Well you see there is this other option, total obliteration.

 

Yes but I think you would still have to suffer for a long time for everything you did.

It's also possible you might choose to still remain in existence in Hell than the other option of obliteration.

For some people, the eternity of Hell might not be absolutely terrible, it will just be extremely crappy.

 

He could always simply let such people who do bad things and he doesn't want to forgive, expire, rather than torturing them forever in hellfire, no? And would you really want to punish beings infinitely inferior to you just out of spite because you "can't forgive them"? Do you beat your dog forever and ever if he pees on the carpet?

I don't wish eternal torment on anybody. Not even those who have wronged me in the worst ways. And this God person supposed to be perfectly good, right? So he's supposed to be better than me, not worse. More forgiving, not more vengeful.

Its not hard to think of better ways to do it. And we're not even Gods. We're not all knowing, all good, etc. But yes, I, and I think most of you, can think up better systems. The system attributed to Bible God is one from a time earlier in human society, before we developed a lot of our higher ethical standards.

Suffer forever in eternal torment? No. I'm sorry. There really isn't. I'm nasty enough that I'd like to see some suffering happen to those who do horrible things to myself and those I love, but eternal torment? No. That's insane.

 

only if this God exists, and he is not "good"

 

That wouldn't be fair to the victims.

I personally don't think the actual punishment for what they actually did wrong will be eternal. That does not mean the consequences will not be eternal.

 

By whose standards is he not "good"?

The whole point of my opening post is that if someone like you were God, you would do all the same things that you complain about in God.

 

That's not an option.

 

No we wouldn't.

 

And that is where I believe you overestimate your virtue.


I'm not even talking about religious belief or theology now, I am talking about actual reality, and a hypothetical we can think about.

If someone does something extremely bad to you and your family and ruins your life, do you really think you would "forgive" them?

 

to me that sounds like the jealous boyfriend that says if I can't have you, no one will, to a girl that doesn't love him - and then locks her up in the basement or kills her - is he a 'good' person?

but the bible does say God is a Jealous God, so much so that he goes by that name

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus+34:14&version=KJV

"
xodus 34:14
King James Version
14 For thou shalt worship no other god: for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God:
"

 

Would like to see it "debunked"... because I think its rather obviously true. In fact, I think its rather obvious that the various bible stories and depictions of the God within are not all from the same sources. I think you've got multiple Gods mixed in there, especially in the OT.

 

How do their victims benefit from their suffering?

 

Again you seem to be ignoring the option of total obliteration.

 

A sense of satisfaction and closure.

Or at least you benefit, from knowing that justice was done, that extreme wrong did not go unpunished.